Toys

Toy of the Year

The UK Toy of the Year awards began in 1965 and are presented annually in January, at a dinner held by the Toy Retailers Association (previously known as the British Association of Toy Retailers) during the British International Toy Fair at Olympia in London.

Some Toys of the Year are more memorable than others; taken as a whole, they give an interesting overview of which toys have grabbed the attention of Brtish children over the years – often (particularly in more recent years) inspired by the year's most popular children's film or television series. The following table lists the majority of them, omitting some of the less memorable ones.

For more details on the Toys of the Year, please refer to the Toy Retailers Association website. For years before 2010, go to The Toy Vault.

1965		James Bond Aston Martin die–cast car
1966		Action Man
1967		Spirograph
1968 and 1970		Sindy
1969		Hot Wheels
1973		Mastermind (board game – not connected to the BBC TV quiz programme)
1974 and 1975		Lego
1976		Peter Powell stunt kite
1980 and 1981		Rubik's Cube
1982 and 1983		Star Wars toys
1984		Masters of the Universe
1985 and 1986		Transformers
1987, 1988 and 1989		Sylvanian Families
1990		Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
1992		WWF wrestlers
1993		Thunderbirds Tracy Island
1994		Power Rangers
1996		Barbie
1997		Teletubbies
1998		Furbies
1999		Furby Babies
2001		Lego Bionicles (construction toys – originally a sub–theme of Lego Technics)
2005		Tamagotchi Connection
2006		Doctor Who Cybermen mask
2007		In the Night Garden Blanket Time Iggle Piggle
2008		Ben 10 action figures
2010		Jet Pack Buzz Lightyear (Toy Story 3 tie–in)
2012		Furbies (updated with LCD eyes and a mobile app)
2014		Disney Frozen Snow Glow Elsa

Toy (etc) of the Century

The following awards were made by the BATR in January 2000 (as reported in The Guardian):

Toy of the Century		Lego
Game of the Century		Monopoly
Craze of the Century		Yo–yo

Other

Launched in Britain in 1966 by Palitoy, as a licensed copy of Hasbro's American GI Joe		Action Man
Created in 1959 by Ruth Handler, and named after her daughter; inspired by a German equivalent called Bild Lilli; full name Barbara Millicent Roberts; acquired a belly button in 2000		Barbie
Bakelite–based construction toy – invented in 1933 by Charles Plimpton, bought by Meccano in 1960		Bayko
Toy animals stuffed with plastic pellets rather than conventional PVC stuffing (Legs the Frog, Squealer the Pig, Spot the Dog, Flash the Dolphin, Splash the Whale, Chocolate the Moose, Patti the Platypus, Brownie the Bear (later renamed Cubbie), Pinchers the Lobster: introduced in 1993, a major fad in the late 1990s		Beanie Babies
Game of customisable spinning tops, based on a traditional Japanese toy; introduced in 2000, marketed internationally by Hasbro from 2002 – becoming its second biggest revenue earner, after Transformers		Beyblades
Controversial (skinny, provocatively dressed, produced in exploitative conditions in China) but hugely popular dolls, launched in 2001 by MGA Entertainment of Los Angeles; sold 125 million worldwide by 2006. Spin–offs include Bratz Boys, Bratz Babyz		Bratz
Subject of a dispute between Xavier Roberts (who made a fortune out of them) and Martha Nelson Thomas (who didn't), over who originally created them; caused riots in US stores at Christmas 1983, as demand far outstripped supply		Cabbage Patch Kids (dolls)
Range of die–cast metal vehicles, introduced in 1956 by Mettoy Ltd. as competition to Meccano's Dinky Toys, and made in Fforestfach, Swansea; sold to Mattel in 1989, and Hornby in 2008; most famous product is James Bond's Aston Martin DB5 – the UK's first Toy of the Year (1965), and the best–selling toy car ever		Corgi Toys
Traditional toy, said (by Wikipedia) to be derived from the Chinese yo–yo – consisting of a spinning top caught on a string, name is an ecclesiastical Latin name for the Devil		Diabolo
Range of die–cast metal vehicles, introduced in 1934 by Meccano		Dinky Toys
Lego's core product range for children between 18 months and 5 years old, introduced in 1969: its bricks are twice the size of traditional Lego bricks, but still compatible with them		Duplo
Invented in the late 1950s by French electrician Andre Cassagren; originally named Telecran		Etch A Sketch
Reached its peak popularity in May 2017: Catherine Hettinger and Scott McCoskery have both been cited as its inventor (in 1993 and 2014 respectively)		Fidget spinner
Named after a pie company that supplied US colleges, whose empty tins could be thrown; Walter F. Morrison (d. 2010 aged 90) designed the Whirlo–Way (1946), marketed the Pipco Flyin–Saucer (1948) and Pluto Platter (1955), and sold the rights in 1956 to Wham–O, who patented the modern "professional" model in 1964 and finally sold the rights to Mattel		Frisbee
Car racing toy, introduced in 1968 by Mattel		Hot Wheels
Used traditionally in many cultures including Hawaii; first manufactured in Australia; a major craze in 1958		Hula hoop
Involves taking wooden blocks from a tower and replacing them on top without making the tower fall; name comes from Swahili for "to build"		Jenga
Played with 54 wooden blocks, 1.5 cm x 2.5 cm x 7.5 cm
Invented by London mapmaker and engraver John Spilsbury, around 1760; involves fitting "nubs" into "voids" to form "locks"		Jigsaw puzzle
Known to the ancient Greeks; name comes from the Greek words for "beautiful" (kalos), "shape" (eidos) and "to look at or examine" (scopeo). Patented in 1817 by Scottish physicist Sir David Brewster		Kaleidoscope
Barbie's boyfriend		Ken (Carson)
Game, first marketed in 1967, in which you remove plastic straws from a plastic tube, trying not to drop marbles		Kerplunk
Developed in 1972 by Peter Powell (1932–2016); British toy of the year, 1976		Kite (steerable)
Developed in 1989 by US engineer Scott Stillinger: made of hundreds of rubber filaments – designed to be soft, not too bouncy, and easy to catch		Koosh ball
First made in 1949, taking the name of the company founded in 1932 by Danish carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen to make wooden toys		Lego (bricks)
First made in 1953 by Lesney, in East London – all approx. 2.5" (6.5 cm) long		Matchbox toys
Invented in 1901 by Frank Hornby of Liverpool; described on the box as "engineering for boys"		Meccano
Created in the USA in 1949 by George Lerner; sold in 1952 to Hasbro, who were its first distributors, and in production ever since; first toy advertised on (American) television (30 April 1952); featured in the Toy Story films		Mr. Potato Head
Invented in 1880 by Franz Kolb, a German pharmacist; patented in 1899 by William Harbutt, an Englist art teacher from Bath, Somerset; mentioned in songs by the Beatles and Oasis, and in titles by Placebo and Thom Yorke		Plasticine
Created in the USA in 1933 as a wallpaper cleaner, and adapted into a child's toy in 1956; introduced in the UK in 1965		Play–Doh
Invented in 1974 by a Hungarian architecture professor; named after him in 1980 by a German toy manufacturer; advertised as having "over three billion combinations but only one solution"; said to be the world's best ever selling toy (350 million sold by 2009)		Rubik's Cube
Developed in 1956 by B. Francis from his clockwork Minimodels – produced at Havant, Hampshire until 1967		Scalextric
Classic toy, invented by US naval engineer Richard T. James in 1943 (and named by his wife): a compressed spring whose best trick was to go down stairs		Slinky
Geometric drawing toy invented in 1965 by British engineer Denys Fisher		Spirograph
German company, founded in 1880, originally made pincushions in the shape of elephants, from a design found in a magazine; began making stuffed toys in 1897; an American buyer ordered 3,000 in 1903 as the teddy bear craze took hold; quickly became the most sought–after and collectible manufacturer of teddy bears, distinguished by the trademark metal button in the ear		Steiff
Construction toy for toddlers, invented by Denys Fisher		Stickle bricks
Made by a company founded in 1947 by Robert Pelham in Marlborough, Wilts. Liquidated in 1995, revived in 2008		String puppets
Collectible plastic anthropomorphic animal figurines, originating in Japan: British Toy of the Year 1987, 1988 and 1999; animated television adaptations were made in the USA (1987), UK (1988, narrated by Bernard Cribbins) and Japan (2007). Families include the Wildwoods (rabbits), the Babblebrooks (more rabbits), the Evergreens (bears), the Thistlethorns (mice), the Chestnuts (raccoons), the Slydales (foxes), the Timbertops (more bears), the Waters (beavers), the Treefellows (owls), the McBurrows (moles) and the Oakwoods (squirrels)		Sylvanian Families
Japanese electronic toy, introduced in 1996 and ridiculously popular for several years; you had to care for it as if it were a pet		Tamagotchi
Introduced in 1985: a talking bear, whose mouth and eyes moved while it 'read' stories played on a cassette deck built into its back; spawned a TV series first broadcast in 1987		Teddy Ruxpin
Stuffed toy, based on a character from Sesame Street, that laughs when squeezed; introduced in 1996, it caused a shopping frenzy that Christmas		Tickle Me Elmo
Started in Japan in 1984, as a range of toys that could be changed from vehicles into robots and vice versa; grew into a global franchise, with comic books, TV series and films; described as "the must–have Christmas toy of 1986"		Transformers
Said to be based on a Filipino hunting weapon, and introduced to the USA in 1923 by Filipino hotel worker Pedro Flores		Yo–yo

© Haydn Thompson 2017–23